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Strong Urges

BY: T. Franklin Murphy | April 2018 (edited December 30, 2021)

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The Urges that Destroy

We get beastly urges pushing for harmful action. Listening to these desires that hurt destroys our lives.

Shoving us one direction or another, internal impulses can’t be ignored. Sometimes chemically stimulated from addiction, other times programmed from experience, the underlying forces lie in wait to explode and direct choice. We unwittingly find ourselves in the chains of desire. The raging wants obscure freedom, distracting from healthy intentions with a maddening drive to act.

Desires aren’t evil. Many desires are survival oriented, pushing to expand life, enjoyment and growth. Other desires are not so majestic, morphing healthy intentions from chaotic and disjointed experiences. Our minds, try as they may, can’t organize the mess into an enlightening whole. We force the broken pieces into jigsaw interpretations, ignoring the reality of the missing and misfitted connections.

"Human decision-making is complex. On our own, our tendency to yield to short-term temptations, and even to addictions, may be too strong for our rational, long-term planning."
Peter Singer

Starting the Change

Somehow, perhaps by hitting the bottom, or a disastrous encounter, we realize something is wrong. Life is failing to conform to our childhood dreams. A careful examination may expose faulty desires that push for destructive action that serves no future purpose. Change is necessary. Acknowledging is simple; acting a challenge.

Trying to emerge victor over bastardly desires that continually haunt our efforts is a mammoth undertaking. We must act different than our bodies tell us we should. We must look into the throat of the beast, see the fangs, and then act differently.

"The most important thing is that we are on the right path, and we will not deviate from it, even in the face of strong temptation to choose temporary gains over long-term benefits."
Yemi Osinbajo

The moment of choice becomes our new rallying point. We must refrain from escapes routinely employed, hold words previously spewed, continue forward where we use to rest. The tiring work of change is often exchanged for the more pleasing work of justification, finding easy targets to blame, chemicals that dull feelings, and others who support our debauchery.

The paradise of a fulfilling life lies beyond the hurt of misguided desires. We must end our slavery—the blind obedience to emotions; and begin a new course of living. A course that harnesses desires for our good, creating richness and connection to the surrounding world.

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